Thursday, September 04, 2014

How ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ Rose to No. 1 in China

Caesar crossed the Rubicon and recently headed straight for China, as “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” topped the foreign box office.
The post-apocalyptic thriller hasn’t snagged first place on the overseas charts since the end of July, but it was able to recapture the crown on the strength of its People’s Republic debut. The film took in $51.2 million from 29 territories, with $47 million of that coming from China.

“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” now commands a worldwide total of $613.4 million, roughly $130 million more than its predecessor, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” made during its entire global run. It has two more openings on the books; Japan and Venezuela in September.

Sliding in at number two was “Lucy.” The Scarlett Johansson thriller racked up $31.2 million to bring its global haul to $269.4 million. This weekend it surpassed “The Fifth Element” and its $263.9 million total as Luc Besson’s highest grossing film as a director.

The film has 12 territories yet to open and will debut next weekend in South Korea and Panama.The weekend’s top domestic grosser, “Guardians of the Galaxy,” sailed into third place abroad, adding $19.7 million to its coffers from 68 territories. The Marvel movie has earned $547.4 million worldwide so far, and still has openings scheduled in China, Japan and Italy.

Coming in at fourth and fifth were “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” with $13 million from 43 territories and “Into the Storm” with $12.9 million from 51 territories.

Also worth noting that “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” which was written off in some circles as a box office disappointment when it opened in June, will likely end its global run with more than $600 million in ticket sales thanks to its $420.2 million overseas haul. Bow to the power of the foreign box office.